'Tis the Season . . .

. . . for a very full calendar! Choosing to focus on the bits of breathing time I'm finding in the midst of the holiday madness (when did Christmas turn into a veritable marathon of recitals and program practices and church/school programs?).

Camden's first guitar recital was last night, and it was fun to watch him and the others perform (with varying success). He's progressing really well, and I love seeing him play. We made a rookie mistake and sat on the wrong side of the auditorium so I have a solitary picture of him leaving the stage.

My goal for this year was to have all gifts purchased and wrapped by December 1. I squeaked over the finish line on December 2 (thank you, Amazon Prime and gift cards!).

Photographing a 9 and 12 year old is definitely different than taking pictures of toddlers. They may be slightly less energetic, but possibly more uncooperative. Transitioning to a more casual, lifestyle mode of photography has been difficult, but I am trying to pull the camera out more often for the little things.

Hello, exhibit A. Uncooperative.

For instance, Rory has homework nearly every single night. Not because there is homework assigned, but because she has a difficult time focusing with the hustle and bustle of the classroom surrounding her. She comes home, sits at the kitchen table and finishes up. Personally, I think it still makes her feel grown-up to have homework. ;)

Today's agenda includes a relaxed morning of blog browsing and coffee drinking, which will hopefully energize me enough to be patient during this afternoon's Christmas card photo shoot with the kids. To reward ourselves for surviving not only the photo shoot but all of the practicing involved in preparing two kids for their first recitals, Brian and I are going to go see Mockingjay 2 this afternoon. Tomorrow begins another marathon of events, company, birthday-celebrating, and programs so we are trying to soak in today's relative lack of schedule.